Madison Made Music Project song contest draws many entries

Organizers of the Madison Made Music Project received many more song entries from local musicians than expected. "Since this is the first year we have done it, I didn't know what to expect," says Katherine Davey, a co-organizer of the inaugural charity event intended to build awareness about poverty and homelessness in the city. "I was hoping for 100."

By the end of Monday, the official deadline for entries, there were 151 songs officially submitted to the project. From this pool, a selection committee will choose 15 that they consider to be representative of what is offered by Madison musicians. With the entries now closed, the selection process is starting shortly.

"We're burning the CDs right now," says Davey. By the end of the week, they'll be sent to all twelve committee members, who will have a month to listen to every entry. Then they'll meet as a group twice -- at the end of this month and in early August -- to select the final 15. These songs will be featured on a compilation album, and the artists invited to perform at a quintet of live shows in September, with sales of CDs and tickets directed towards raising funds for the project's organizers, Porchlight, Inc. and the Community Action Coalition of South-Central Wisconsin.

Davey explains that the project should be announcing the selections by mid-August, with the CD to be released thereafter. They're still working on potential sales locations. The grouping of performers at each of the five venues hosting the official Project release concert on September 20, meanwhile, will depend upon who is selected. "There will be logical groupings, though," notes Davey, who emphasizes that patrons will be able to get into all five shows with a single admission.

For now, though, the project is remaining focused on winnowing the entered songs by a factor of ten. "We're hoping to get it together as quickly as possible," says Davey, "and hopefully next year we'll do an even better job of getting word out early."

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